Rhamnus velutina velutina (Rhamnus velutina velutina)
Description
Rhamnus lycioides is a slow growth shrub adapted to dry Mediterranean climate. It is a deciduous or evergreen shrub of 1.5-3 meters high with a tangled, thorny, and many-branched form. The bark is grayish, and the young stems are topped with a thorn. Leaves are light green and, 0.5 to 3.5 centimeters long and 0.3 to 1 inch wide. The tip is obtuse to apiculate. The leaf is entire, linear to obovate, glabrous, narrow and elongated, sometimes slightly broadened towards the apex. They are sometimes leathery and persistent. Lateral nerves have little or no markings on the underside. The yellow flowers are inconspicuous, standing in groups and appear in the winter. The calyx shows four sharp corners. The flowers are very small, solitary or in small bundles in the axils of the leaves, greenish-yellow with 4 triangular lobes. The petals are rudimentary or nonexistent. The fruits ovoid, 4-6 millimeters large, yellowish and are beginning to ripen black. The berry is having inside a single seed or more, depending on the subspecies. It does not bloom and bear fruit at the same time. Several specimens of the same population bear fruit in different months extending the availability of the species as food for birds that disperse their seeds. The berry is purgative, very bitter and in large quantities is toxic to humans.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Rosales
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Family: Rhamnaceae
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Genus: Rhamnus
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